myStocks Blog & Market Commentary

The financial sector has evolved over the years with new technologies being introduced in the industry. In Kenya competition on who comes up with the next best application is changing our view of banks.

Equity bank is the largest bank in Kenya by customer deposits and the best bank in the world in terms of return on assets. Its success came from strategy to go for the bottom of the pyramid. The greatest threat to equity Bank is poor customer service, but it still is a strong investment destination

If you bought Safaricom shares 5 years ago, you have made a return of close to 600%. Even in the face of competition and split recommendations due to alleged dominance, the company has continued to outperform and is currently by market capitalization, bigger than the combination of all Kenyan banks plus EABL!

For the longest time the Kenyan banks have been the port of call for investors; they were profitable, resilient, and stable and the price gains were attractive. This was especially true for the 6 leading banks. However, for the last three years it seems the fellowship of the gold standard has been haunted by new demons. Have the Kenyan banks lost their shine?

Beyond your emergency fund, you should not put money that you don't plan on using in the near future into a bank savings accounts or merry-go-round scheme since they can't even keep up with inflation. The "rule of 72" offers a simplified way to calculate how long your investment will take to double, given a known annual rate of return.

Interestingly, there are some foreign investors who are waiting for the market to bottom out so they can take full advantage of the bear. Well, Africans only slaughter when the visitors come, so let them. But make sure you are in when the meat is being distributed.

Intelligent investors are busy purchasing stocks now, such that when the market recovers, their portfolio averages will be low enough to start gaining earlier than their counterparts who are waiting to start buying when the hype about markets rebound hits the mainstream news channels.

Kenya Airways' increase in operating costs has led to reduced margins with costs associated with leasing aircrafts and outsourcing services highlighted as the main problem. What is being done to overturn this situation?

REITs are transforming how people are investing especially in the real estate sector around the world. Ultimately, the successful performance of the REITs to a large extent depends on the ability of the owners/agents to successfully operate the underlying properties